As a member of the HR community, we are always looking for opportunities to contribute to and improve human resources as a profession, increase HR’s business value, and elevate the workforce as a whole. To do this, we wanted to cover topics that keep HR professionals up at night — topics like business culture, compliance, candidate experience, employee engagement, and HR’s role in helping managers become better leaders. Striving for an engaging and efficient way to openly collaborate on these topics, we created the #PeopleFirstPodcast series!

During this series, we provide candid access to conversations that are normally private and exclusive between HR technology leaders and industry influencers. With the unique combination of perspectives among Ultimate Software leaders and HR social media leaders like Steve Browne, Jennifer McClure, Sarah Brennan, Robin Schooling, and Janine Truitt, the value of this podcast series is priceless. That’s why we’re opening up the series to not just our customers, but to the world. Each of Season 1’s eight episodes will launch twice a month until the HR Tech conference, run about 20 minutes, and is perfect for any commute. With that said, here’s a preview of Episode 1:

“People are squishy,” says Steve Browne, SHRM Board Member and Executive Director of HR at LaRosa’s, Inc., on our first #PeopleFirstPodcast as he shares the “secret sauce” to creating company culture that impacts business. The restaurant industry faces lots of challenges, as it hires 16-year-olds and faces high turnover rates. However, Steve says, by recognizing people as people, looking to play off their strengths and showing individuals how their work provides value, businesses around the world can build top-quality company cultures that attract and retain the best employees.

The conversation evolves into a high-level discussion on how organizations must update their idea of succession planning to not look at how one person can replace another, but how new employees can improve each role to provide more value to their organizations. “We let the software predict top performers,” says Viv Maza, Ultimate’s Chief People Officer, and then work with managers to develop top performers over time. Both Steve and Viv mention that development must occur in both high and low performers, and in both good and bad times.

The episode concludes with Ultimate’s recent ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of our new 100,000-square-foot facility—a building that includes meditation rooms, a putting green, a game room, and more. Viv explains how the building represents Ultimate’s “People First” core principle, shows we truly focus on employees, gives them purpose to come to work, and provides the tools for success. She also describes the tears of joy that streamed down employees’ faces as she cut the red ribbon. That’s because this building is more than an office: it’s our employees’ home, and they feel part of something big. As Viv says, “A house doesn’t make a home. It’s the people we bring in.”

Welcome to Ultimate’s new podcast series. Listen to the valuable conversation between Viv and Steve at www.ultimatesoftware.com/podcast, and share it with friends with the hashtag #PeopleFirstPodcast. Tell us what you think by tweeting @UltimateHCM with the hashtag #PeopleFirstPodcast or by emailing us at socialmedia@ultimatesoftware.com. And be sure to ask us about our VIP Podcast Community today.

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